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'Amazing' Vancouver School Board educator to retire

Teacher developed programs for children and teens with brain injuries

Eileen Fogarty-Ellis is retiring from the Vancouver School Board after 42 years as a teacher, the last 24 of those spent at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children.

Fogarty-Ellis is a provincial resource teacher in acute rehabilitation at Sunny Hill. She works largely one-on-one with students. She develops new education programs for children and teenagers whove suffered brain injuries, and with children who need to get back up to speed with their studies. They might need help after a stroke, or a brain tumour, or hip surgery related to cerebral palsy.

Val Bancroft, a student support worker who has toiled alongside Fogarty-Ellis for six years, calls her colleague an amazing educator.

She has a high school teaching background but here we work with the kids from five-years-old to 19, Bancroft said, adding Shes not only been a teacher to the kids, but shes been an amazing teacher to me.

Fogarty-Ellis started her career teaching high school theatre and English. When she returned to work after having three daughters, she was called in to substitute at Sunny Hill, located at Slocan and 20th Avenue. Not long after, the rehabilitation hospital for children called her back, despite her lack of a background in special education. She was a natural fit. Fogarty-Ellis began upgrading and 24 years later, shes attended conferences about brain injuries in Copenhagen, Denmark and in Melbourne, Australia, where she was a presenter.

Fogarty-Ellis works with occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists and most intensely with neuropsychologists to help children with skills such as reading and math. She works with each student who has a brain injury for six weeks to six months and gets their home school ready to receive them.

The humanities teacher turned near health worker says curiosity kept her at Sunny Hill for so long.

The learning curve with brain injury, its fascinating, Fogarty-Ellis said. And I work with fascinating people. I work with really, really smart people. People who I have learned so much from.

Fogarty-Ellis wants to travel and will continue to help her husband with his book business and to volunteer with Sunny Hills project setting up a mini Sunny Hill in India.

But Jericho Beach resident says its time to retire.

As a generation its our responsibility to turn over our good jobs to the next generation, she said. We have a lot of energy. Were the boomers, you know, were going to live forever, right, and we can work forever, but its not fair.

crossi@vancourier.com

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